In May, Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. While the data might but put to good use, the overemphasis routinely placed on...

School marks for written tasks

Dan Blore is Manager and Educator at Extended Learning Centres, Mooloolaba
If you notice that your secondary students are given marks for English or other written assessments which seem below the...

5 tips for bringing up tutoring with your child

Dan Blore is Manager and Educator at Extended Learning Centres, Mooloolaba
In my previous post, I explain why many kids and teenagers have a negative conception of tuition, and why Extended Learning...

In May, Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) test. While the data might but put to good use, the overemphasis routinely placed on these tests defeats the point. It would be valuable to have an accurate measure of schools’ and students’ performance in

Quick reference page for our favourite websites to help you punch-up your essays, speeches, articles and stories. Not only helpful for English, but any subject with written tasks. Keep in mind that these are just tools – you have to use your own judgement about whether to follow their suggestions. Our favourite Thesaurus Make your writing more interesting

Succinct tips for great fictional or non-fictional descriptive writing – from Bruce Porter, journalism lecturer at Columbia College. See an example here of how to turn a boring opening sentence into an engaging description. 1. Don’t be literary or lyrical If it makes you feel like [a poet] inside you are probably being too self-conscious and that comes